Parrot Conservation Alliance members met in Nashville in 2019, and visited the Exotic Avian Sanctuary of Tennessee, shown here. Photo courtesy of Kathy Floyd

American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is proud to announce the formation of a new Parrot Conservation Alliance that brings together a variety of invited parrot rescue centers and sanctuaries — many accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries — with conservation organizations like ABC to advance the conservation of parrots in the wild.

The Alliance held an organizing conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in October 2019 that brought together more than 40 participants and 30 organizations from around the United States and Latin America. In the months since, Alliance members have coordinated on the following activities benefiting parrots:

• Alliance members, including ABC, the Avian Welfare Coalition, and others, submitted formal comments from 22 organizations to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service opposing a request to import 4,000 Gray Parrots from South Africa as an exemption under the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992. Illegal trafficking of this species for the pet trade is driving population declines, and since the provenance of the birds to import is not clear, the Alliance doesn't want the U.S. market to have any chance of contributing to these wild bird declines.
• ABC is now supporting and partnering with One Earth Conservation to count wild populations of the Endangered Sun Parakeet in Brazil to augment their counts from neighboring Guyana and compile a more complete estimate of the global wild population. This connection was facilitated by the Nashville meeting.
• In the last few months, through the Alliance, sanctuaries and rescues have coordinated the charity placement across the U.S. of 22 parrots, most of which were being held by the state of California. This is in addition to the normal intake by Alliance facilities, all of which are already challenged by large numbers of relinquished, domestically bred parrots.

“Parrots in the wild are in grave danger, and they need our best efforts immediately,” said Patty Finch, Parrot Conservation Alliance Coordinator and former Executive Director of Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. “The Parrot Conservation Alliance will not only help sanctuaries and rescues collaborate as they address the root causes of the overwhelming crisis of unwanted non-releasable parrots (former pets), and provide needed sanctuary, but also enable these organizations as never before to come together to support key conservation efforts for wild parrots.”

“From the North American Bird Conservation Initiative and bird conservation joint ventures, to the Alliance for Zero Extinction, this new Parrot Conservation Alliance continues ABC's deep commitment to partnerships and its tradition of establishing and taking leadership roles within alliances of stakeholders from across society to engage in bird conservation,” said Daniel Lebbin, ABC's Vice President of Threatened Species. “We hope this Alliance will motivate people and sanctuaries in the U.S. to connect with and support wild-parrot conservation projects with ABC's partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

ABC is grateful to the Wagmore Foundation, Foster Parrots, Northeast Avian Rescue, and an anonymous donor, known as Gina Canine for Parrots, for their support of the Parrot Conservation Alliance.

###

Media Contact: Jordan Rutter, Director of Public Relations, 202-888-7472 | jerutter@abcbirds.org
Expert Contact: Daniel Lebbin, Vice President, Threatened Species, 540-253-5780 | dlebbin@abcbirds.org

American Bird Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With an emphasis on achieving results and working in partnership, we take on the greatest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation. Find us on abcbirds.org, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@ABCbirds).